Editor's note: This is one in a series of interviews Foster's is publishing about major candidates in the November General Election.
DOVER — Republican Rep. Frank Guinta on Friday placed blame at the president's feet for the gridlock in Washington, saying the Democratic leader has failed to guide lawmakers toward a solution to avoid massive budget cuts in 2013.

During a meeting with the editorial board of Foster's Daily Democrat, Guinta defended his votes in the U.S. House, and made the case Senate Democrats and the president are avoiding dealing with the threat of so-called “sequestration” cuts in the federal budget.

The deep cuts are scheduled to automatically take effect next year as a consequence of the failure of Congress to reach compromise on the debt ceiling and federal budget.

Guinta accused Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid of dragging his feet on crafting a solution to the problem because he and other Democrats insist tax rates must be a component of the conversation.

Guinta said sequestration cuts will have an affect on 4,000 jobs in the state, including many in the defense industry. The cuts could also be devastating to the long-term viability of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is dependent on the Navy's need for submarine maintenance to remain intact, he said. Raising tax rates now would be destabilizing for the economy, and would only generate a fraction of the $1.1 trillion needed to forestall the sequestration process, he said.

Guinta, the former mayor of Manchester, rode a Republican surge in 2010 to beat Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, who served two terms in office before she was ousted in the election. He is facing the Rochester resident once again in the 2012 election for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District seat.

Guinta has positioned himself as a conservative who opposes big government and large federal initiatives, such as stimulus funding and national health care reform. He has sought to appeal to the business community and pledges to cut government spending.

A member of the House Budget Committee, Guinta noted the House has successfully adopted its own budget by the required April 15 deadline for the past two years. He said the country needs to have a “fact-based discussion around revenues and expenditures, both discretionary and mandatory,” when it comes to sorting out the federal budget.

“This notion that we can't address, or we shouldn't address, mandatory (spending) is false,” Guinta said. “You have to address it. You have to take this head on if you want to make sure that things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid are preserved and continue for the long term.”

Guinta said he's been “demonized” this year by the left, which is throwing out “rhetorical critique and lack of substance.”

“I think when members of the Democratic Party in leadership in Washington, or those who are running here — when they say that every single member of the Republican Party is a Tea Partier, or they make that distinction, I don't think this matches the laugh test,” he said.

Guinta said two examples of his ability to work across the aisle are his advocacy around preventing the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing more stringent wastewater discharge standards in communities around Great Bay and his support for local fisheries.

Asked whether he identifies himself as a Tea Party conservative, Guinta replied: “I had Tea Party support in 2010. I consider myself a Republican. I also consider myself an American.”

Guinta said his policies and principles relative to spending fall in line with those of the Tea Party, but he hasn't shifted his political views or his focus since he served as mayor of Manchester — a time during which he was paired with a sizable number of Democratic elected officials.

“I enjoy public service and civic service,” Guinta said. “I really do. You don't do it for the nasty headlines and the attacks. You do it because you really think you can improve things.”